The SABC plans to replay its R1 billion loan from Nedbank next year, the SABC's new CEO Lulama Mokhobo told parliament.
The government gave the struggling public broadcaster - which was on the verge of financial collapse in 2009 - a lifeline to the value of R1,47 billion. Attached to this government guaranteed loan was very stringent performance and remedial conditions - most of which the SABC has so far failed to meet.
Lulama Mokhobo told parliament last week during her presentation of the SABC's new 3 year Corporate Plan for 2012 - 2015 that the SABC plans to repay its R1 billion loan by the end of the next financial year and that the public broacaster is aiming for zero wasteful expenditure.
According to the SABC's Corporate Plan, the public broadcaster only sees limited annual advertising revenue growth of 7,9% between 2010 and 2015. This will mean a rise of R4 billion to R12,6 billion in advertising income. But Lulama Mokhobo says this isn't enough to keep the SABC afloat and that the government will have to give the SABC more public funding.
The SABC as a public broadcaster says it is limited from growing its advertising revenue because the 9 minutes per hour it is allowed to sell advertising is not enough to generate the revenue needed.
The SABC says in its Corporate Plan that the income from licence fees collection isn't really growing and is remaining stagnant as the SABC is losing viewers to pay TV operators such as MultiChoice's DStv and On Digital Media's TopTV.
Lulama Mokhobo told parliament that the SABC will aim to maintain a 58% average TV share by 2014/2015 despite increased TV competition. The SABC wants to maintain its audience share through quality TV productions and a huge investment in local TV content. R800 million will be spend on commissioning new local TV content in 2013.
